Dec. 29, 2023: Roanoke

 

I admit I've been falling behind a bit when it comes to blogging some of my train adventures lately. Guess seeing a train or riding on one's a bit easier than doing the write-up afterwards. 

During the holiday period in December I was looking for a train trip I could take within a day's journey or less from the D.C. area. Roanoke, Va jumped off the map at me. The main reason, is that it's home to the Virginia Transportation Museum. I had seen pictures of the museum but hadn't been there. Amtrak had conveniently begun regional service to Roanoke in 2017 as part of its effort to expand service to various destinations in Virginia. Amtrak had last served Roanoke in 1979!

I hopped on Northeast Regional train 151 from Union Station at 8:15 a.m. on Dec. 29. The train had originated in New York, as many Northeast Corridor trains do. 

The trip down to Roanoke was very enjoyable. The first 15 minutes are pretty much the same as any trip south of D.C. on the train. But after Alexandria, the train takes the track that goes west toward Manassas. We chug through the remainder of the suburbs until we reach historic downtown Manassas.

Culpeper was next.

We reached Charlottesville about 2 hours after leaving Washington. I didn't snap a photo of the platform on the way down since I was sitting on the right side of the train, so here's one I took on the return ride. 

Charlottesville is a nice city, and the train passes right through downtown as well as the UVA campus. As the train continued south we began to see mountains in the distance. This scenery continued as we made our way toward Lynchburg. 

We crossed the James River and shortly after that, made a stop at the Lynchburg depot.

Lynchburg is also served by Amtrak's Crescent, which runs from New York to New Orleans. While that train continues southwest, our train takes a turn onto another line that runs due west to Roanoke for the final hour of the journey. The mountain scenery continued until we finally reached Roanoke around 2 p.m. -- about 40 minutes late.

The Roanoke station actually isn't really a station! It's a long platform without a building. A bit depressing for the end of the line, and for such a picturesque city. But I'll cut the city some slack since it was only six years earlier that Amtrak started service here. 

I do hope a station building is erected eventually, as Roanoke is a sizeable city with a rich railroad history. 

The nice thing about the location of the platform is that it's right in the middle of town, just a few blocks from the transportation museum. The walk took less than 10 minutes. 

The building is a beautiful old railway depot that's been restored and transformed into a museum. It's full of old steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, passenger cars, cabooses. Pretty much everything. There's a section on airplanes too, and another part on antique cars. Admission for adults is only $12, and chances are you'll spend a couple hours in here. 

Probably my favorite piece of rolling stock in the yard was the Norfolk & Western 611 steam locomotive. It last pulled passenger trains in the 1950s, but the locomotive has been kept up over the years and is still operational. It has pulled excursion trains in various parts of the country from time to time. When it's not in operation, the 611 sits in the yard at the Virginia Transportation Museum. Even stationary, the engine is something to behold. 

It was a tad rainy on this day, but that didn't detract from the adrenaline rush I got from seeing so many cool railroad artifacts in the yard. 

Another part of the museum that tickled my fancy was a model of the circus  in the upstairs part of the building. It was incredibly detailed, and colorful. I spent several minutes poring over this exhibit. 

As mentioned, there is also a room with several very antique-looking cars on the first floor of the museum. 

I had an absolute blast at this museum. It's full of interesting artifacts, and the train yard in the back is an absolute goldmine if you're a train person. I'd also highly recommend this museum as a destination for families with young kids. They'll love it, and the museum is pretty affordable.

I spent the night in a hotel within walking distance, and then caught my train back to D.C. early the next morning. This was definitely a trip worth taking.